ACLU blasts Louisiana for traffic camera proposal

Feb 10, 2004 12:00 PM

The American Civil Liberties Union issued a condemnation Thursday of St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens' plan to seek Homeland security grants to install cameras at the parish line to photograph motorists' faces and license plates as they come and go, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
"Camera surveillance by law enforcement raises many troubling questions," said Joe Cook, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, a day after Stephens told the St. Bernard Chamber of Commerce his department will seek grants for the cameras, which cost about $30,000 each.
In Louisiana, Shreveport and New Orleans authorities are using public surveillance cameras in certain public places, Cook said. But he said several cities that pursued the use of public cameras have abandoned the idea "due to a lack of results and complaints from the public," Cook said.
"The Sheriff's Office will end up making illegal stops and violate bans on illegal search and seizure," he warns.
Stephens argues the cameras cannot violate privacy rights because "there's no expectation of privacy on public highways."

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